Contents


Preface

Bananas are one of the top ten world food crops. This book, "Banana Nutrition – Function and Processing Kinetics", covers nutritional topics on the banana plant and fruit. It includes the following important chapters: (i) Introductory chapter on banana nutrition – function and processing kinetics; (ii) Pharmacological activities of banana; (iii) Banana bioactives: absorption, utilization, and health benefits; (iv) Banana pseudo-stem fiber: preparation, characteristics, and applications; (v) Banana drying kinetics; and (vi) Integrating text mining and network analysis for

topic detection from published articles on banana sensory characteristics.

using tissue culture and transgenic technology.

added products are highlighted.

The introductory chapter focuses on the transgenicity of banana. Cultivation is affected by various diseases with the most serious being the Bunchy top disease caused by the Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) and Fusarium wilt caused by the virulent fungus, *Fusarium oxysporum* f. sp. *cubense* tropical race 4 (TR4). Advances such as gene-editing have helped create plants that produce higher yields to meet the growing demand along with higher nutritional content. The purposes of the transgenic banana include enhanced fruit and value-added traits, pharmaceutical/ medicinal purpose, improved productivity, health, and nutrition. Some target traits in the transgenic banana include drought tolerance, disease resistance, stress and insect resistance, vitamin A content, color change, and vaccine production. The chapter highlights current research areas and findings on banana improvement

The chapter on "Pharmacological activities of banana" deals with the significance of the banana in traditional medicine and the pharmaceutical industries. Different chemical constituents such as apigenin glycosides, myricetin-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, dopamine, and serotonin have been reported in different parts and varieties of banana. The presence of carbohydrates, proteins, and flavonoids make bananas useful in both nutrition and therapeutics. The chapter discusses the essential information about the banana, including its varieties, distribution, pharmacological actions, and its relevance in the pharmaceutical industry. The information will be beneficial for researchers to further harness the robustness

The chapter on "Banana bioactives: absorption, utilization, and health benefits" shows that the fruit is rich in carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins and is of great economic value. To increase the postharvest shelf-life of banana fruit, an appropriate postharvest handling procedure needs to be adopted to maintain the freshness of the produce. During the peak banana season, the fruit can be converted into intermediate products such as puree, concentrate, and ready-to-use forms such as chips and juices. Conversion into value-added products can reduce the huge amount of postharvest losses. Various processing methods converting this fruit into value-

The chapter on "Banana pseudo-stem fiber: Preparation, characteristics, and applications" highlights that almost all the parts of this plant, i.e. fruit, leaves, flower bud, trunk, and pseudo-stem can be utilized. It discusses the production of banana pseudo-stem fiber, which includes plantation and harvesting; extraction of

of this fruit in controlling many diseases and modification of drugs.
